Allemann, L. The sami of the Kola Peninsula : about the life of an ethnic minority in the Soviet Union / Lukas Allemann ; [transl. by Michael Lomax]. - Rovaniemi : University of Lapland Printing Centre, 2013. - 151 p. : ill., map, portr. ; 25 см. - (Senter for samiske studier, Skriftserie ; 19).

Lukas Allemann loved. Her father could no longer walk and the mother had to spend most of her time in bed because of a back problem. On top of this the grandmother was seriously ill. Marija Alekseevna had therefore to take care of the household and of her younger siblings. The war years were hard. The family suffered hunger, especially bread was scarce. As with the other interviewees, however, they were helped by the fact that there was sufficient meat in the north. Even though much of it had to be delivered to the front, there was still enough left to survive. Of particular help in this time were people's own, privately owned reindeer, which could be held in small numbers. The quota was 40 animals per herder, and the Popovs were lucky that Marija Alekseevna's youngest brother could work as a herder. The other two brothers were called up. The first was killed in the war and the other was seriously wounded and also died shortly after the war. In many other families all the men had been called up and the women had to look after both the households and the reindeer all on their own. Marija Alekseevna also relates that school was taught only in Russian. She re­ ports that the teachers even came to their home to forbid the parents to talk to their children in Sami. Even so Sami remained the everyday language in the family. Marija Alekseevna regrets, however, that the behaviour of the teachers of the day was quite successful and that many families avoided speaking Sami. At age 16, Marija Alekseevna began duty in the kolkhoz as a milkmaid. The work was hard, at the beginning she had to work 12 hours a day and with no days off, and the pay was very low. At her job she was pushed to join the Komsomol state youth organization, which she did, but never wanted to join the party. In fact, she was never interested in political activities at all. Also, when working on the farm, Marija Alekseevna loved wearing traditional Sami clothing. When she was 18, this was for­ bidden by the chairman of the kolkhoz and everyone had to wear Russian clothes. Marija Alekseevna quickly rose to the position of head of department. She had twelve people under her, who looked after cows, sheep and horses and produced milk, but­ ter and other dairy products. Senterfor samiske studier, Skriftserie nr. 19 58